6.3.2 Motivating activities
The benefits of these activities are that they allow students to come to know the poem and develop their own responses to it in a number of different ways and on different levels. Most of the activities are suitable for group work which allows children to share their personal feelings in a non-threatening situation.
Physical response
For young children, Sloan (1985) feels a physical response should be encouraged, so they are moving, dancing, clapping to the rhythms of the poem.
Some activities involving physical activity such as collage, depictions, freeze frames, mime and sculptures will be dealt with under Drama.
Multivoice and choral reading
These are excellent activities to engage even the shyest children directly with the poem through their oral presentation.
Multivoice reading where the poem is divided up between two or more voices is generally more successful than choral reading, because speaking in unison is harder to manage.
As the groups of students work on their presentation discussing the pace, the tone, the loudness or softness, and who should read which line, they have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the poem.
Adding music
Finding appropriate background music to be played while the poem is being read or performed can enhance children's enjoyment of it, as well as adding to their understanding. Monahan (1985) observes that when asked to think about the suitability of the music for the poem, "students inevitably begin to discuss [its] mood" (p.82).
Children can also be encouraged to bring some of their favourite songs to class which, as Tunica (1995) suggests, "can then be played and discussed as poetry" (p.51). She goes on to say that this approach has the advantage of showing children that poetry is not something set apart from their own lives and personal enthusiasms.
Drama
Chamber theatre, choral dramatisation, collages, dance drama, depictions, freeze frames, mime, readers theatre, sculptures and story theatre are all activities which move around the poem, again allowing the children to develop a deeper appreciation as they discuss it and make decisions about their group's presentation.
The following explanations are taken from the 1994 English K-6 Syllabus and Support Document (pp.176-214):
Chamber theatre
This is suitable for narrative poems with a strong storyline. Groups of children prepare different parts of the story which they rehearse for presentation as either readers theatre or story theatre (see below).
The presentation unfolds from group to group without pausing, and each group is involved as both presenters and audience.
Choral dramatisation
This is a presentation form in which groups of 5-6 students speak and move as a chorus. The poem or prose poetry may be spoken in unison and/or divided between the voices in the group. The group moves symbolically to express the mood of the poem.
Collage drama
This consists of a series of short scenes showing an aspect of an idea or event. The scenes may consist of enactments or may be created using such forms as tableau, fluid sculptures or monologue. The scenes may be linked by music, by a narrator or by using a device such as freeze dissolve. Collage drama does not necessarily tell a story or have a chronological sequence which makes it particularly suitable for using with poetry.
Sound collage
A sound collage uses a variety of sounds to express an idea or feeling, using a variety of vocal, percussive and other sounds. The collage may be orchestrated or be spontaneous or improvised. Individual members of the group may make individual sounds to express their ideas or feelings, or there may be different groups making sound in unison.
Soundscape
A soundscape is similar to a sound collage, but would be used with poems with a narrative structure. It tells a story without words, using sounds and silence. Groups can take responsibility for different parts of the story and this activity is useful in helping students to reconstruct the movement of the different stages of narrative poems.
Verbal collage
This consists of a selection of spoken words arranged randomly to express a particular idea or feeling in a collage format. The words may be said singly or in phrases. Different groups can take responsibility for different parts of the collage.
Dance drama
Dance drama involves the use of movement and music to tell a story of a narrative poem. The rhythm and pace of the movement and music convey the mood.
Depictions
A still picture is created from human bodies and some furniture or props to form a tableau depicting an incident, idea or moment of experience. Depictions may be used as a response to poems and presented to an audience.
Freeze frames These comprise a series of depictions showing the stages in a narrative poem. Students in groups can prepare each frame of a depiction for the sequence. They then show them to the rest of the class who have closed their eyes while the first frame has been set up. The other class members open their eyes for 10 seconds to view this frame, then close them while the next frame is prepared. The action is viewed as a series of frozen frames focusing on the main movements in the narrative poem.
Mime
Students can use gestures and actions to tell the story of a poem and/or express the feelings it evokes.
Readers theatre
Children write a script based on a poem and present it to the rest of the class, reading individually to take certain parts.
The emphasis for the readers is on tone, pace, pausing, intonation and stress, which allows them to focus closely on the meaning of the poem and their response to it. Discussions in groups about how to present each part also add to the children's understanding.
Sculptures
Like mime and freeze frames these involve using human bodies to express feelings and ideas.
Frozen sculptures
Students depict, in frozen form, a character or feeling or mood.
Slow motion sculptures
These may develop from a frozen sculpture where the figures move in slow motion.
Fluid sculptures
Feelings are expressed through repeated sound and movement, allowing students to respond individually within a group to a poem.
Story theatre
This is similar to readers theatre except that the students' presentations do not work from a written script, but from oral storytelling that has been rehearsed. Story theatre is most effective as a small group activity where each group can present a stage of a narrative poem.
Painting, drawing, craft work
Elvis Costello and Thelonius Monk's contention that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture" (as cited in Lawrence, 2001, p.2) can also be applied to poetry, so that a written response to a poem is not always the most appropriate means for students to express their reactions. For some, art work can be a more effective way of allowing them to respond sensitively and imaginatively to poetry.
Paintings and drawings
Children can be encouraged to use these art forms to express their reactions to a poem and to depict their interpretations of its themes, mood and tone.
Murals
These are particularly suitable as an extension activity with narrative poetry since the sequence of events can be readily represented in a frieze.
Puppets and masks
Puppets and masks can be made by students and used in dramatic re-enactments of poems. Often children who are shy about speaking themselves will find it easier to do so through the character of a puppet.